Estudio comparativo del estatus clínico-nutricional en mujeres obesas posmenopáusicas incluídas en un programa de pérdida de peso basado en platos preparados

introduction: few studies have evaluated the efficacy and reliability of weight loss-focussed prepared food dishes in obese post-menopausal women. objective: to compare the efficacy of a weight loss programme based on a balanced hypocaloric diet using prepared dishes* with that of a similar programme based on standard commercially available foods and with a non-intervened control group. a further aim was to evaluate the subjectivity of participants in the preparation of the diet-adjusted dishes based on usually consumed products. subjects: obese post-menopausal women aged between 55 and 65 years. design: controlled longitudinal interventional study. method: the sample of 75 female volunteers were divided into three groups of 25 women: a control group, who continued to consume their usual non-dietary adjusted meals (cg), an intervened group, treated with a diet adjusted to their individual requirements and based on standard commercially available food (sg), and another intervened group, treated with a similarly adjusted diet but based on prepared dishes (pg). data were gathered on anthropometric variables, consumption habits and physical activity levels, and clinical-nutritional controls were conducted at the start and every two weeks to the end of the 8-week study in order to evaluate biochemical changes. results: the weight loss was slightly higher in the prepared-dishes group (pg) than in the standard food diet group (sg), but the difference was not statistically significant, whereas it was considerably higher in both groups than in the non-dietary adjusted control group (cg) and this difference was highly significant (losses of 7.60 kg in pg and 7.01 kg in sg versus 2.10 kg in cg (p < 0.01). however, the pg showed a significantly higher (p < 0.01) loss of fatty mass and abdominal circumference versus the sg women. conclusion: more weight was lost by the two groups treated with a diet based on prepared dishes or usual food items in comparison to untreated controls